That’s where we’ll leave our coverage for today. Thanks so much for sticking with me. Don’t forget, the Logies ceremony is still to come tonight.
The ceremony is being held on the Gold Coast and stars have just begun arriving on the red carpet.
Seven nominees are up for the Gold Logie, including Hamish Blake, Julia Morris, Karl Stefanovic, Melissa Leong, Ray Meagher, Sonia Kruger, and Tom Gleeson.
Tony Armstrong, of the ABC, is getting a lot of support for his first Logie. He’s up for the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent.
Police raids on climate protesters, support for Assange and new housing scheme
It’s been a busy Sunday. Let’s recap the day’s events:
- Police conducted a massive operation against climate protesters in Colo, in Sydney’s north-west on Sunday morning. Climate protesters Blockade Australia said they were surrounded by police and described the police actions as “repressive”. Police say they were investigating the group’s activities in an unmarked car, when their officers were subjected to “violence”. A massive police response began after the protesters either slashed or let down the tyre of a police car, police said. Police said the protesters were planning more disruptive protest activity across the state, following an earlier blockade of Port Botany in March.
- The New South Wales government announced a $780m shared equity scheme to help vulnerable and low-income Australians buy a home. The shared equity scheme will benefit single parents, older singles, nurses, police and teachers, allowing buyers to enter the market with a deposit as low as 2% of the sale price. It will see the government contribute an equity share of 40% for a new home or 30% for an existing dwelling.
- Supporters of Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange are urging the Australian government to do more to prevent his extradition to the United States, following the UK home office’s decision late Friday. But the Albanese government insists it will not conduct “diplomacy by megaphone”, while repeating its view that the case has gone on for too long.
- The NSW government has also announced it will spend $25m to install the Aboriginal flag on a permanent spot on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Aboriginal flag will fly alongside the Australian and NSW state flags.
- The employment minister, Tony Burke, said it was too late to scrap a controversial points-based mutual obligation system for jobseekers, insisting the concept is “right”, but needs tweaking.
- The fire at the Dapto substation has been contained by firefighters in New South Wales.
Updated
Assange case has gone on too long, says Tony Burke
The Albanese government insists it will not conduct “diplomacy by megaphone” as it faces calls to do more to prevent the extradition of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange to the US.
The minister for employment and workplace relations, Tony Burke, said the government’s view was that the case had gone on too long and that conversations were happening.
We’re not going to conduct diplomacy by megaphone. This case has gone on for far too long. We said that in opposition, we’ve repeated that in government.
The issue needs to be brought to a close. Australia is not a party to the prosecution that’s happening here [and] each country has its own legal system.
The days of diplomacy being conducted and conversations with government being conducted by megaphone, text messages being exposed – that was the way the previous government behaved. We’ve been building constructive relationships again with our allies and they’re conversations that happen government to government.
Updated
Australian donations to Ukraine at more than $5m so far
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that about 10,000 Australians have now donated a total of more than $5m to the crisis appeal for Ukraine in the four months since the Russian invasion.
The donations have been made to the Ukraine Crisis Appeal, a charity set up in 2015 by the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, with Rotary Australia and Caritas Ukraine.
Updated
Whistleblower advocate group calls for lobbying of PM over Assange case
The Alliance Against Political Prosecutions is urging its supporters to inundate prime minister, Anthony Albanese, with messages in support of Julian Assange. The home office announced late Friday to order the extradition of Assange to the United States over the leaking and publication of the WikiLeaks cables a decade ago.
AAPP, a group which supports persecuted whistleblowers, is planning protests this week in support of Assange. In a statement to supporters on Sunday, it said:
[Assange] has not seen freedom now for 10 years.
Assange has committed no crime. What he did was publish information about US war crimes in Iraq and other information on Afghanistan and other matters. He has been charged under the Espionage Act, but he didn’t obtain the information, US intelligence officer, Chelsea Manning, did. She was subsequently pardoned by President Obama. How can it be that Assange is still in prison when the whistleblower is now free, and no other media outlet which published the information has suffered any consequences?
These proceedings against Julian Assange are clearly an attempt to intimidate journalists everywhere. They are a travesty of justice and a threat to press freedom and must be ended.
Updated
100 Covid deaths this weekend, with 212,000 active cases
AAP reports that more than 100 Covid deaths have been recorded so far this weekend.
Australia’s coronavirus-related death toll continues to rise, with more than 100 fatalities announced over the weekend including 48 in Victoria.
More than 47,000 new infections have also been recorded since Thursday.
There are presently more than 212,000 active Covid-19 cases across the country, with nearly 2900 patients in hospital care.
Reporting of the latest pandemic data follows the federal government signing off on an extra $760m to help states and territories fight the virus.
The existing commonwealth-states funding deal was set to expire in September but was extended on Friday by three months.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese says the pandemic “clearly isn’t over yet and it would be very brave to suggest that you can make that projection”.
Updated
Victorian Covid update
The Victorian government has issued its latest update on Covid-19 hospitalisations, deaths and vaccinations. The state recorded 5,472 new cases and was notified of 19 deaths yesterday.
Here’s their statement in full:
There are 422 Covid-19 cases in hospital in Victoria – with 21 active cases in ICU, including nine on a ventilator, and an additional six cleared cases in ICU.
6,271,134 vaccine doses have been administered by Victoria’s state-commissioned services, with 836 doses administered yesterday at state-run centres.
68% of Victorians aged 16 and over have had three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine. 94% per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over have had two doses.
5,472 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded yesterday. This includes 3,689 who tested positive on a Rapid Antigen Test and 1,783 who returned a positive result on a PCR test.
Sadly, the department was notified of 19 deaths yesterday in people aged in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. This brings the total number of deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began to 3,750.
There are 41,195 active cases in Victoria.
11,612 PCR tests were processed yesterday. The total number of PCR tests performed in Victoria since the pandemic began is 21,294,656.
Updated
NSW climate activists respond to police raid
Blockade Australia released a statement a little earlier today about the police raid on the Colo property. It said:
Police are raiding our beautiful camp. Groups of cops in cammo (sic) gear with guns surrounded our camp this morning. Dog squad, riot police, helicopters and fully militarised police are all over us. Of course, they will take all our means of communication first, so sorry, no livestreams are likely. This is how an extractivist state responds to the challenge of saving our life support systems. This is how a system based on climate destruction responds to a movement of nonviolent climate defenders. Repression +++
Updated
NSW police ‘feared’ for their lives during raid on protesters, assistant commissioner says
Police say they are expecting to charge more protesters after today’s raid on a group of climate protesters in Colo.
He said they were “in the area” investigating the group, which has been linked with previous disruptive protests.
Assistant commissioner, Paul Dunstan, said police “feared for their lives”.
Those police that were attacked by that group this morning feared for their lives. They called for urgent assistance and police from all over the Sydney metropolitan area responded to assist and provide aid to those police officers.
He said a search warrant is currently being executed at the area.
We believe that group was engaging in behaviour, planning and preparing to conduct the extreme forms of protest this group has conducted previously.
Dunstan was asked what specifically the group were alleged to have been planning.
Practicing rehearsing and constructing items to conduct similar methods of protest that they conducted during the March protest activity, where you saw elaborate objects being formed and put in the middle of the roadways to ultimately disrupt vehicle activity and trains around the Sydney area.
Updated
Police raid climate protesters, allege officers were subjected to 'violence'
New South Wales police are speaking about a raid on a group of climate protests on a property at Blue Mountains. Concerns have been raised about the heavy-handedness of police actions.
Police say the group, Blockade Australia, was “planning and preparing” for “extreme forms of protest”.
They alleged that officers were “attacked” with one police car tyre’s slashed or let down.
The officers called for assistance and a more substantial police response arrived. Acting commissioner Paul Dunstan said:
On this occasion there was certainly violence against police.
Two people have been arrested.
Updated
And with that, I will hand the blog over to the always-ready Christopher Knaus. Thanks for reading.
And if you’ve missed it, I highly recommend this piece from Caitlin Cassidy on embedded power networks and how they affect renters:
Queensland Labor aiming to halt loss of votes to Greens party
Queensland Labor state president, John Battams, has said his party needs to improve its communication on its environmental credentials, or face a “Greenslide”
Speaking to The Courier-Mail, Battams said he wanted to redirect the party to better communicate their efforts on combating the climate crisis, particularly in areas where “our vote is not what it should be.”
I think that if we can show the value of having a Labor government in Queensland and a Labor representative locally, and if you analyse the achievements of a Green representative in the Parliament, I think people may come around to the view that voting Labor is a very good thing to do,” he said.
And … we need to better communicate our environmental success to people, particularly younger people.
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Perrottet says he wants to be known as "the education premier"
NSW premier, Dominic Perrotet, spoke to the Sun-Herald this morning, saying he wants to continue working on education reforms, aiming to “modernise the education system and reform it.”
In an interesting interview, the premier said he wanted to slash teachers’ administration burden so they can spend more time teaching, and to improve access to vocational classes for students.
He also says he wanted to improve teachers pay, and to “reward excellence”:
[Teacher pay] is an area that has not reformed for a long period of time because there are many vested interests.
That doesn’t mean we can’t do it. I want to work with the Teachers Federation. But they can’t be the eternal custodians of the status quo.
We have to work in ways that modernise the teaching profession, reward excellence and prompt excellence to encourage others like any other workforce.
We need to look at having more admin staff in schools.
It’s taking them away from what they are actually qualified to do. I’m on it, and it’s not going to be tinkering around the edges.”
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Tony Burke: “too late” to scrap changes to unemployment benefits
Employment minister says it’s too late to change jobseeker points system
I just wanted to return to Tony Burke’s comments to Sky News this morning, where he also said it was “too late” to scrap changes to unemployment benefits due to be introduced next month.
The employment minister said instead the government will be looking to alter the scheme, which will change from the JobActive scheme to a new program called Workforce Australia, which will require job-seekers to earn 100 points a month through applying for jobs, sitting interviews and undergoing training.
The controversial changes were introduced by the Morrison government, and were criticised by advocates for being confusing and potentially more difficult to work with.
Burke admitted the scheme was flawed, but said there was not enough time to prevent it rolling out:
It’s actually too late to not have a points system at all.
It’s about getting inside it and making it logical, and making sure that when all these contracts take effect in a couple of weeks’ time, we’ve actually got a system that helps long-term unemployed people.
What the government has designed, some of it is more punitive than actually getting the job done.
We want to make sure — and I’ll be changing it over the course of the next week — to make sure that we can have a system that’s designed to get people into work, rather than some media stunt to punish people.
Updated
The AAP is reporting health ministers from the world’s 20 largest economies will thrash out ways to prepare and respond to future disease threats, looking beyond the remaining challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under Indonesia’s G20 presidency, its health minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, will convene a meeting on Monday to discuss ways to strengthen global health systems.
Australia’s Health Minister, Mark Butler, will attend the gathering virtually.
“Australia welcomes Indonesia’s G20 health priorities and looks forward to working with other countries to ensure the world is better prepared for future disease risks,” Butler said on Sunday.
Everyone, no matter where they live and what their circumstances, should have access to quality, affordable and safe health care and as a member of the global community Australia stands ready to help communities in our region and beyond.
The meeting aims to address concerns and build on the success stories that emerged during the pandemic.
Ministers will consider ways to reduce impediments for travellers as they cross borders, with a pilot project to examine how countries can recognise vaccine certificates used by different jurisdictions, helping get trade and travel back to normal.
The meeting will also discuss building on some of the frameworks that have been so important globally during the pandemic.
Butler says Australia is investing in its own vaccine production capacity and establishing an Australian Centre for Disease Control, helping ensure it is better prepared for future pandemics.
He says the government is also committed to working with the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen health security and respond to the pandemic.
Australia has already shared more than 40m vaccine doses and will continue to work with its Quad Vaccine Partners - India, Japan and the US - to distribute them where and when they are needed.
Ministers will also discuss a range of other health priorities including tuberculosis, recognising that while the pandemic has demanded attention, continued efforts are needed to avoid losing progress elsewhere.
Updated
National Covid summary
Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today so far. We will continue to update this post as case numbers come in:
ACT
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 809
- In hospital: 90 (with 2 people in ICU)
NSW
- Deaths: 7
- Cases: 6,348
- In hospital: 1,406 (with 50 people in ICU)
Northern Territory
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 181
- In hospital: 17 (with 2 people in ICU)
Queensland
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 2,959
- In hospital: 444 (with 7 people in ICU)
South Australia
- Deaths: 2
- Cases: 1,910
- In hospital: 217 (with 10 people in ICU)
Tasmania
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 609
- In hospital: 29 (with 1 person in ICU)
Victoria
- Deaths: 19
- Cases: 5,472
- In hospital: 422 (with 27 people in ICU)
Western Australia
- Deaths: 14
- Cases: 3,896
- In hospital: 280 (with 14 people in ICU)
Updated
Australia’s ski resorts are enjoying bluebird days this weekend after record dumps across the Victorian and New South Wales alps.
The weather continues to provide welcome relief to ski resorts, which were battered by pandemic restrictions across the past two snow seasons, severely limiting attendance and forcing some closures.
The perfect conditions will continue over the next week, with more snowfall predicted.
At Perisher and Thredbo, more snow is forecast for Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Mt Buller and Mt Hotham are forecast for snowfall every day from Tuesday to Sunday.
Dapto substation fire contained
It’s Christopher Knaus here, taking over the blog for the next half an hour.
Good news out of the Illawarra. Emergency services have declared the fire at the Yallah substation, near Dapto, to be contained.
Fire and Rescue NSW said the fire was caused by a “mechanical failure of a redundant transformer”.
Approximately 100,000 litres of oil was involved in the incident, which has since been confined to a bunded area, and poses no threat to the environment.
Specialist hazardous materials firefighters remain on scene monitoring the smoke plume and the temperature of the impacted transformer and oil tanks.
The fire has significantly reduced in intensity. However, it is anticipated it will burn for a number of days. Although there is minimal smoke in the area, residents are encouraged to monitor the situation and stay indoors and keep their doors and windows closed as required.
Shellharbour airport has also resumed normal operations.
FRNSW continues to work with Transgrid and the NSW Environment Protection Authority to monitor the situation to ensure the safety of residents and the environment.
Updated
Earlier this morning, opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor insisted the Morrison government “managed the energy crisis” just before the election, and blamed Labor for it.
Taylor was on Sky News, and said Labor needed to get more supply into the market, but couldn’t actually say how they should do that.
We had managed this in the lead-up to the election successfully. We had managed it successfully. And we showed how you do that, which is to focus on supply and don’t demonise traditional sources of fuel.
Taylor also echoed his leader, who earlier would not say if they would support Labor’s effort to legislate its 43% mid-term emissions target.
We’ve always been very clear: we don’t commit to a target unless we know how we’re going to do it, and how we’re going to do it without raising the cost.
Updated
NSW government announces housing shared-equity scheme
The NSW government has announced a $780.4m shared-equity scheme for housing that targets frontline workers.
The program, which is near identical to the policy the Albanese government took to the election (and was mocked for by the then PM), could see the state government contribute up to 40% of equity for a new home or 30% for an existing home.
Frontline workers such as teachers, nurses and police officers, and single parents and single people over 50 would be eligible for the scheme.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the scheme would run as a two-year trial and work alongside the federal government’s program:
We want to make sure that people right across NSW have that opportunity because we know home ownership is crucial to growing wealth.
The program intends to help with the purchase of 3,000 homes a year, but Perrottet said that could be expanded. People will need to earn $90,000 individually or have a combined income of $120,000 to be eligible.
The program will also cover homes worth $950,000 in metropolitan areas and $600,000 in regional areas, a figure treasurer Matt Kean says is about what 60% of properties are worth.
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Very sad news that my dear friend Kris Cruden has passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer - a compassionate, smart, funny and amazing woman - my former Chief of Staff, Mayor of Leichhardt, committed trade unionist - much loved by her family, comrades and friends 💔
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) June 19, 2022
Victoria announces expansion of Royal Children's hospital
The Victorian government have announced a multimillion-dollar expansion of the Royal Children’s hospital in Melbourne.
At a press conference earlier this morning, health minister Martin Foley announced the expansion, which will include an enlarged emergency department and a new 30-bed inpatient unit.
The nearly $50m investment from the Andrews government is intended to expand the hospital’s capacity, which is already experiencing more than 300 presentations a day.
Foley said the investment was to ensure children and parents can rely on the hospital in emergencies.
A bigger and better Royal Children’s hospital will ensure Victorian kids continue to receive the world-class healthcare they deserve when they get sick or an emergency strikes
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Burke says high inflation due to past government's 'neglect'
Earlier this morning, employment minister Tony Burke said inflation was not rising due to wage growth, instead pinning the issue on the previous government’s “neglect”.
Burke was on Sky News and was asked about the Fair Work Commission’s decision to raise the minimum wage, and whether that might contribute to an inflation spiral:
Inflation is not being driven by high wage growth.
We don’t have high wage growth. The wage price index has been running at 2.4[%] at the same time that inflation was coming in at 5.1[%].
I want to get wages moving and enterprise bargaining has been the best way of doing that hand-in-hand with productivity.
Wage stagnation happened when we were told we couldn’t have wage improvements because inflation was low. Now some people are arguing we can’t have wage improvements because inflation is high.
Burke was also asked if pensions and jobseeker payments will be raised in line with inflation, to which he responded by saying they will be assessed in the October budget.
We said during the campaign all of those benefit payments get reassessed for what’s affordable every budget.
Updated
LNP retains Queensland state seat of Callide
The AAP is reporting that the Liberal National party has retained the Queensland state seat of Callide in a byelection.
Bryson Head was voted in on Saturday after former LNP member Colin Boyce vacated the seat to run for federal politics.
Head will be the youngest member sitting in the Queensland parliament.
“He’s young, he’s hungry and he’s ready to advocate for a better future for his area,” Queensland LNP leader David Crisafulli said in a statement.
The big two-party-preferred swing towards the LNP shows the importance of choosing strong local candidates who are focused on issues that matter to Queenslanders.
The seat of Callide covers some 74,000 sq km from central Queensland to the Western Downs, north-west of Brisbane.
Head comfortably defeated Labor’s Bronwyn Dendle, securing 50.83% of first-preference votes, according to initial results from the Queensland Electoral Commission.
Updated
Federal government announces $7.8m for Activ Foundation
The federal minister for social services Amanda Rishworth has today announced the government will provide $7.8m to Western Australia for disability employment provider Activ Foundation.
The funding is intended to keep large-scale industrial work sites open for another 18 months to better support the transition of employees into new placements.
It comes after an announcement in May that Activ Foundation intended to close its large-scale industrial work sites, where more than 750 supported employees with disability currently work.
Rishworth said she was concerned the timeframes initially announced by Activ didn’t provide people with enough time to move into other employment:
Many of the supported employees have been with Activ for decades and this announcement came as a significant shock to them. We need to put these employees first and make sure they receive the support they need to manage this significant transition in their lives
This funding will slow the closure of the work sites, from a few weeks to 18 months. During this time, all of the 756 employees may continue working with Activ in their roles, if they wish to do so, meaning they have a guarantee of continuing employment in the immediate future.
The McGowan government will also provide a funding pool of $4m to support Western Australian-based Australian Disability Enterprises through the transition period.
The grants will help the organisations build contemporary service models and associated workforce capability.
Updated
On Albo's office gate this morning #assange pic.twitter.com/HAP62lDzDr
— Melanie Tait (@MelanieTait) June 18, 2022
Pushed on whether he continues to think an Indigenous voice to parliament was a “third chamber”, something Barnaby Joyce echoed at the time, and has since retracted, Dutton again dodges the question:
I don’t see what the government is proposing, and during the course of the campaign I’m happy to support anything that supports reconciliation that does it in a sensible way, but I don’t – as Linda Burney herself has pointed out, she is having discussions with Anthony Albanese to decide what it is they are putting forward.
I think we are 20 step ahead of what the opposition and other parties will do until the government itself knows what it is doing.
Just wanting to note that most of his answer is about Labor, and not his own position.
Updated
Next, Dutton was pressed on his position on an Indigenous voice to parliament, to which he gave an answer laced with references to “practical outcomes” and domestic violence.
While refusing to provide clarity on his own position, Dutton alleges that the government is not clear on what it wants to do and that we are “20 steps ahead”:
I made very clear this the one is that the government itself doesn’t have the detail yet and so we want to see that detail and there are lots of questions that will come from that.
I don’t think the public has any understanding yet of what the government is proposing. So let’s see all of that detail and we are not going to make a decision until we see it, which is a reasonable position. But the action I want to see now, which is not a reflection of failure on the Morrison government or Gillard government or Howard government, it is a collective failure of all of us.
I want to see practical outcomes, the closing of the gap, a massive reduction in the violence against women and children, particularly the sexual violence against children in Aboriginal communities.
I don’t want to see little kids in Indigenous communities in our country in year 2022 locking themselves in shipping containers to get through the night to save themselves from being sexually assaulted, and that is what is happening. I want to see that practical effort ... I know that Anthony Albanese has outlined his four priorities so far. It doesn’t include this priority and I encourage him to put it to the top of the list.
It should be noted that these are general, non-specific and sensational allegations, and our reporting of Dutton’s comments should not be taken as any more than an attempt to accurately reflect his remarks.
There is a long history on both sides of politics of weaponising allegations of child sexual assault against Aboriginal communities.
Updated
Dutton is being grilled (again) on where he got information that the United States could provide two nuclear submarines to Australia by the end of the decade.
Speers presses Dutton on whether he used classified information to make that point, eventually gleaning from the opposition leader it was a “commonsense conclusion”.
Dutton: Well, based on my judgement of what I thought was possible for our country, and I had visited the electric boat company in Connecticut. I had spoken with them there. I had obviously looked at the what we could do here domestically. I worry that ...
Speers: The question is whether you are using classified to make this point. You said you haven’t.
Dutton: No, not at all.
Speers: Where is this publicly available information that they can provide two nuclear subs by the end of the decade?
Dutton: David, in the article that I published in the Australian, I made it clear that I think this government is trying to crab-walk away from the Aukus deal. I don’t think they ever truly in their hearts ...
Speers: That’s not the question I asked. My question was where did you get this information that is not classified that the US can provide two nuclear submarines by the end of the decade to Australia?
Dutton: David, I looked at the information which I had spoken about publicly before. I detailed that in my article in the Australian because I wanted to call out the government and stop them from making a terrible mistake by walking away.
Updated
Asked if he would support Labor’s new renewable target, Dutton avoided the question.
Speers: Do you support the new target?
Dutton: Well, we will see what the Labor party puts forward.
Speers: Well, they have. They are signed up. Do you support it?
Dutton: Well, let’s see what they put forward because they’ve got to negotiate with the Greens to get there, David, so this does have echoes of Julia Gillard and ...
Speers: Well ... they’ve now signed up to a target. I’m wondering whether you support it.
Dutton: Our position is what we took to the election. We are not supporting legislation and we have been clear about that.
Speers: I know you are not supporting the legislation, but the target is 43% by 2030 – what’s your view?
Dutton: Our view is that we will end up – people haven’t put a figure on it – but would suspect we will end up with something like 35%. We had the target of 26-28%. In terms of our own target, we will announce that before the next election.
And on and on it went.
Updated
Dutton continues to repeat these issues happen “at night” as a means of saying this issue has “nothing to do with renewables”:
My point is that that is happening of a night-time, David. This is nothing to do with renewables, the debate over the last couple of weeks. We want an honest, reasonable, unemotional debate about it.
Updated
Dutton says Bowen is a 'bunny in the headlights'
Dutton is being grilled on the energy crisis now by Insiders host David Speers, who pressed the opposition leader on why he is criticising the Labor government for how they’re dealing with a crisis rooted in his own time in government.
We were agnostic in terms of the technology or energy source ... this is the point. Labor would have turned off coal years ago. Chris Bowen’s argument still is this very day to exclude gas and coal. This is an argument over the last fortnight about firming up.
As was pointed out, you basically dedicated your introduction to it this morning – the mechanisms are there, there for Angus Taylor. All the same policy settings and ingredients were none. It was a failure of Chris Bowen in his response and the regulators, if they are saying the companies have gamed this.
When it was noted that there weren’t any blackouts or load shedding in the past couple of days, Dutton pauses before finding a new angle:
I wouldn’t get too excited about the first 14, 21 days ... If you have a look at what Aemo and others have said, they have raised real concerns about the companies. The sense of panic from Chris Bowen that is out there at the moment wasn’t there when Coalition was in government.
I think he is a bunny in the headlights.
Updated
Dutton says there is 'fault all round' for energy crisis
Opposition leader Peter Dutton is on ABC’s Insiders this morning, and was immediately questioned on the previous government’s energy legacy.
Dutton begins by saying there is “fault all round” after being shown a clip of NSW premier Dominic Perrotet saying an “ideological war” prevented private sector investment in clean energy.
Dutton, though, was not having it, and attempted to frame the problem as a fault of the new Labor government:
There is fault all round here, David, over a long period of time people have been taking different positions, including state governments, as was pointed out. We’ve got a huge gas supply in the north and west of this country.
In a Labor state in WA, there is the ability for certainty to be put into the energy market. We have constraints in terms of the gas pipeline bringing gas from north to south, and we’ve got moratoriums in Victoria, for example, both Liberal and Labor governments where they haven’t wanted that gas.
For the federal government, the Coalition’s part, yes, over a long period of time we’ve had huge investment into renewables, a practical approach to gas, to coal, et cetera. We invested in something like 26,000 emission reduction policies and programs, and we will continue to do that.
Updated
Albanese says focus now on climate targets and creation of Jobs and Skills Australia
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has spoken to the Sun Herald this morning, outlining his domestic agenda ahead of the first sitting of the new parliament.
Albanese has had a busy first month as prime minister, travelling overseas twice already and dealing with rising inflation and the energy crisis on the east coast.
But he confirmed to the papers he wanted to continue pursuing his domestic agenda, including legislating climate targets, 10 days of domestic and family violence leave, the creation of Jobs and Skills Australia, holding a national employment summit and another national cabinet meeting.
It’s four weeks since we were elected today; it has been a pretty busy four weeks. Normally governments would still be moving offices now.
We’ve asked people to bring forward the legislation to create Jobs and Skills Australia; to create the Nationally Determined Contribution [to emissions reductions] and the target – 43% by 2030 and then [zero by] 2050. That legislation will come forward and there may be some appropriation legislation required.
There will be the 10 days’ pay domestic and family violence leave legislation; there will be legislation required for the cancelling of the cashless welfare card. There will be a fair bit basically, it’s a matter of when it’s prepared for the first fortnight of sitting.
Albanese also confirmed there will be another two sitting weeks before the budget on the last Tuesday in October.
Updated
NSW records 6,348 new Covid cases and seven deaths
NSW has reported 6,348 new Covid cases and seven deaths:
COVID-19 update – Sunday 19 June 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) June 18, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 4pm yesterday:
- 96.5% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 95% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/gSuo6lymZe
Updated
Vic records 5,472 new Covid cases and 19 deaths
Victoria has recorded 5,472 new Covid cases and 19 deaths overnight:
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) June 18, 2022
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAchah#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/EdxdK5khF0
Aboriginal Flag to be permanently flown on Harbour Bridge
Building on the announcement mentioned below, here is the AAP report on the Aboriginal flag having a permanent home on the Sydney Harbour Bridge:
The Aboriginal flag will have a permanent spot on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with the NSW government committing $25m to install a third flagpole by the end of the year.
Flying the Aboriginal flag alongside the Australian and NSW state flags was an important gesture towards Closing the Gap, NSW premier Dominic Perrottet said about the 2022-23 budget announcement:
Our Indigenous history should be celebrated and acknowledged so young Australians understand the rich and enduring culture that we have here with our past.
Installing the Aboriginal flag permanently on the Sydney Harbour Bridge will do just that and is a continuation of the healing process as part of the broader move towards reconciliation.
The flagpoles are about 20 metres high, the same as a six-storey building, while the flags require an attachment strong enough to withstand all weather conditions.
Transport for NSW and Aboriginal Affairs will engage with key Aboriginal stakeholders about the project.
Updated
Good morning
Good morning and happy Sunday, Mostafa Rachwani with you on another cold day on the east coast.
We begin with news that the NSW government has announced that the Aboriginal flag will have a permanent spot on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The AAP is reporting that the government has committed $25m to install a third flagpole by the end of the year.
The commitment comes amid a bit of a spending spree from the NSW government in advance of its budget next week. Yesterday, the government announced a $100m investment into women’s safety in public places, at home and in the workplace. It comes only days after the government announced a $12bn investment in the early childhood sector.
Sticking with NSW, the Australian Energy Market Operator has confirmed a large fire at an electrical substation in Illawarra will not affect electricity supply. The fire was contained last night at the the substation on the Princes Highway at Yallah, south of Dapto, with Aemo confirming in a tweet it will not disrupt supply.
There is still much going on, so let’s dive in.
